The rice miller responsible for shipping the rejected containers of rice to Panama has accepted blame for the error, Head of the Guyana Rice Exporters and Millers Association (GREMA) Rajendra Persaud said yesterday, while noting that the body is awaiting the return of the containers in order to ascertain the extent of the situation.
Last week, Head of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Nizam Hassan had confirmed that 20 containers were stopped in Panama and denied access into the country after investigations revealed parboiled rice had been shipped instead of white rice, which the millers are contractually obligated to supply.
Hassan explained that more than a week ago, the GRDB received communication from one of its representatives in Panama about a shipment being flagged. As a result, investigations identified a miller who was then given the directive to stop packaging rice at night. After more shipments were flagged, the miller was then instructed to stop using his facilities and then eventually ordered to stop shipments temporarily until the investigations are completed.
Yesterday, Persaud, a veteran rice farmer, told Stabroek News that a meeting was convened at the John Fernandes Wharf on Monday with millers from around the country to ascertain what led to the wrong rice being shipped to Panama.
When questioned about what came out of Monday’s meeting, Persaud explained that all of the participants were of the opinion that whatever was done “was completely wrong.”
“The shipper accepted responsibility for it and he says it’s not going to happen again. He said it was a mistake and we need to verify that but basically the general tone is that this is destructive to the industry and it is not going to happen again,” he added.
Persaud also noted that they will have a follow-up meeting after they have done their inspection and investigation to ensure that the correct systems and measures are put in place to prevent a reoccurrence.
“There are so many things being said in the media and the Millers Association wasn’t aware, so we just wanted to understand what is happening and what it is we can do to make sure we have better systems in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again because the industry is hurt, which means everyone was hurt from what happened,” Persaud explained, while pointing out that the meeting was called to see what is their next course of action and to clear up the facts of the situation.
Persaud related that they are waiting on the rice to return to the country so that they can ascertain the extent of the situation and how much incorrect rice was shipped.
“What is good is that…the customers didn’t receive the rice in their warehouse and it was on the port that they said they have to send it back. The rice was shipped back and in two weeks or so it should be in Guyana and at that point the Rice Board [Guyana Rice Development Board] is going to verify everything because there’s a lot of speculation,” Persaud said.
